This invention relates to an apparatus for culturing or growing embryos in a communal environment. More specifically, this invention relates to an embryo culturing incubator assembly wherein individual embryo culturing plates in the incubator are disposed on shelves in the incubator. The shelves are configured relative to a door into the incubator so that air and other internal gases can freely circulate up and down through the incubator unimpeded by the shelves, and so that a technician can readily reach all of the culturing plates without being impeded by the incubator shelves.
Human, and other animal embryos, are presently grown in suitable growth-enhancing nutrients in specialized controlled atmosphere incubators. The growth period is typically about three days. After the growth period, the embryos are implanted into a female""s reproductive system. There are several generally practiced embryo growth procedures which are presently in use. One of the generally practiced embryo growth techniques involves the use of a culturing container, such as a Petrie dish, in which individual embryos are placed in spaced-apart locations in the culturing dish. This technique involves the placement of individual embryos on a growth-enhancing nutrient in spaced apart positions in the Petrie dish, and subsequently immersing each of the individual embryos in a drop of a growth-enhancing nutrient.
Another of the generally practiced embryo growth techniques involves clustering a plurality of embryos together on a Petrie dish or in a growth tube, and covering the cluster with a common drop of the growth-enhancing nutrient. Using this technique, all of the embryos in a cluster are exposed to the same growth-enhancing nutrient drop and are able to share that growth-enhancing nutrient and also share their respective by-products of the growth process.
As noted above, the Petrie dishes or growth tubes are placed in an atmospherically controlled incubator. The incubators will typically include a plurality of shelves on which the Petrie dishes or growth tubes are placed. The shelves in a typical incubator assembly may be perforated so as to facilitate atmospheric or air circulation throughout the incubator. A typical embryo-culturing incubator assembly is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,427, granted Aug. 11, 1998 to Forma Scientific, Inc. The prior art incubators present certain problems relating to their ease of use, and to the ability of the individual embryos to be uniformly exposed to the growth-supporting atmosphere in the incubator. It would be highly desirable to provide an embryo-culturing incubator assembly which allows easy access to all of the embryo culturing plates in the incubator; and which also allows for free circulation of gases among all of the embryo culturing plates inside of the incubator.
This invention relates to an improved incubator assembly for growing embryos in vitro prior to implantation of the embryos in a female""s reproductive system. The incubator assembly of this invention provides for easy access to all of the embryos being grown in the incubator, and also allows uniform distribution of the internal incubator atmosphere to all of the embryos being grown in the incubator. The embryos are disposed on individual growth dishes in the incubator. The incubator assembly includes a plurality of embryo growth dish trays which are vertically stacked above each other in the incubator, and on which the embryo growth dishes are disposed. The trays are provided with a frontal concavity which faces an access door to the incubator. The concavities allow a technician to reach into the side and rear recesses of each tray so as to be able to lift each of the embryo growth dishes off of each of the trays with disturbing any of the other embryo growth dishes.
The incubator assembly includes components such as an air-recirculating system, air filters, an air humidifying bubbler, and the like. The air in the incubator is recirculated through a particulate and volatile organic compound filter assembly by means of an air mover. The filter assembly is preferably capable of removing both particulates and volatile organic compounds from the recirculated gas stream. Air or other gases entering the incubator assembly for the first time are humidified by being passed through a bubbler. The recirculated and filtered atmosphere from inside of the incubator assembly is humidified by a liquid, such as oil or water, or some other liquid, contained in a pan which is disposed on the floor of the incubator assembly.
The incubator assembly preferably also includes a timer which monitors the incubation time during which a filter is used, and which is operable to indicate when the filter being used must be replaced. The preferred procedure for performing this function is by operably connecting some kind of warning device, such as a signal light, with the timer. When the warning device is activated by the timer, the user is alerted that the air filter should be changed. After the filter is changed, the user will reset the timer so that the expiration time of the new filter will be recorded by the timer and the user will be informed that the filter should again be replaced with a new filter.
The following is a listing of several desirable, but non-essential, objects of this invention.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved embryo growth-supporting incubator apparatus which provides one with improved access to the growth media of individual embryos which are disposed in the incubator apparatus.
It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus of the character described which enables embryos in growth media plates or tubes to be easily removed from the incubator, examined and returned to the incubator without disturbing other growth media plates or tubes in the incubator.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an incubator apparatus of the character described wherein circulation of the gases in the incubator is promoted by means of the configuration of embryo-supporting shelves in the incubator.
It is another object of this invention to provide an incubator apparatus of the character described wherein the improved gas circulation and the improved access to embryo growth dishes are both provided by the configuration of the embryo-supporting shelves in the incubator.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an incubator apparatus of the character described wherein the atmosphere in the incubator is humidified.
It is another object of this invention to provide an incubator apparatus of the character described wherein the atmosphere in the incubator is recirculated and filtered.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide an incubator apparatus of the character described which includes a timer which activates an indicator when it is time to replace the atmosphere filter unit in the apparatus.